We've heard Gears of War has kind of a bad story and dumb, overly macho characters. It's interesting to think there's a little more depth to the story than I initially thought. I like how the influences are beyond the obvious comparison to the Gulf Wars; the article also draws comparison to Manifest Destiny and 1800s American Imperialism.

It makes me wonder what other writers' inspirations are. What do you draw on for story ideas, from general themes to individual characters?

I imagine what a lot of answers will be like: I know for me, the answer is "everything!" Whatever I happen to be thinking about in a day can be funneled into a story. More common threads are things like how politics has seemingly become so radical, the idea that people's personal opinions are so heavily affecting education and policies, and how these dramatic shifts could affect the future (both near and far). I also really like TED talks. The science heavy ones really bring out the sci-fi in me; I have a few ideas bouncing around about future earths based on current technology discussed at TED.

That's a fascinating article. I don't think I would have caught that, and instead just gone with the mindless violence and men who would beat out Schwarzenegger during his bodybuilding days.

I'm kind of an odd bird when it comes to inspiration for story ideas. I try and find something that just plain hasn't been done before. Oh, there hasn't (really) been a story with a necromancer as the good guy in the fantasy genre? That's where the idea for my RPG, codenamed Grimnir, comes from. If it's already been done, I try to take a different perspective on it, like with The Undeadliest Warrior. Or I play with concepts to tweak them into my own personal creation, whether it's high fantasy, romance, swords 'n' sorcery, sci-fi, whatever it is.

I do draw from things around me, though; the entire concept behind Grimnir is based on my view on morality and, really, everything, from a Heathen point of view. TUW is pretty much because I like zombies. And if I can steer it properly, my horror visual novel idea (still looking for a writer) will have Western influences in story and Eastern influences in presentation (I'm a huge fan of Japanese and Korean horror films, as they are the only films that give me legit scares anymore, aside from Lovecraft, of course).